Whales in the OC

Each grade at St. Paul's has a major field trip. In Kindergarten it is the "Crab Lab" in Dana Point. In 8th grade they take a week long trip to Washington DC.

But 1st grade's trip is Whale Watching.

Our trip was schedule for 2 weeks ago, but was cancelled at the last minute (the morning of) due to rain. Few things are cancelled due to rain here in Orange County, and there were many VERY disappointed 1st graders...not the least my own. She was teary, and so disappointed. Even though it was being rescheduled, when you are 7 years old 2 weeks seems like a lifetime!

Because Avery's teacher is almost 8 months pregnant right now she was not able to go on the trip. She traded places with Mrs. Cobb, a former 1st grade teacher that is now teaching 3rd grade. She has been on this trip many times prior, and with her sunny disposition she was an easy fill in for Mrs. Peyton. Avery has always really liked Mrs. Cobb, so she was happy that she could join us.

Honestly I was skeptical that we would see any whales. Both Rob and I took the day off for Zoey's whale watching trip, and there was not a whale in sight. We saw lots of dolphins, but no whales. I have heard that to see a whale is almost more the exception than the rule, so we were prepared and excited just to see some dolphins. But we were in luck, and it was not long before the captain saw a spout off in the distance. We followed that whale and ended up coming upon not one but 2 whales. The captain told us it was a Mama and baby "Fin" whale, and the Mama was 80 feet long!

We followed the pair for almost an hour and watched them surface, take a breath and go back down several times. After we had followed them for quite a while we left them, and went to look for dolphins. We ended up running into two other whales (they might have been the same pair??) and got quite a show. It was an awesome day...and wonderful to see God's amazing creatures, so big and powerful, but yet so peaceful and beautiful.

The kids were all really good, and just had a wonderful time. The sun came out as we were pulling into Newport Harbor, and it made for such a beautiful sight. The gorgeous homes, boats, and just the surroundings as a package. We had a nice picnic lunch at the park (Andrea and I snuck into a Mexican restarant next to the park and got some yummy chips and guacamole...if we could have managed a margarita we would have done that too :-) ), and then watched the kids play in the park before piling into the cars and heading home.

I love 1st Grade!